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TEN "NATIVE" WILDFLOWERS: SUMMER'S LAST BOUQUET

#44: 1-15 August 2026

Random observations about Blue Ridge Birds & Nature

● Banded in 2026: 40 species, 1,645 individuals

● All-time banding totals (2024-present): 74 species, 4,823 individuals

● Hilton Pond North "Yard List" (2024-present): 93 species encountered (not all banded)

● Local breeding species (based on nests found, banded females with brood patches, or recent fledglings observed or banded): 21

Apple Podcast #44

Photographed outside our cabin at Hilton Pond North in upper Ashe County, this juvenile Eastern American Toad, Anaxyrus (formerly Bufo) americanus americanus, was about 1.5" long. It belongs to a subspecies found throughout the eastern half of Canada and the U.S. Within North Carolina it occupies most of the Mountain and Piedmont Physiographic Provinces and tolerates elevations well above our 3,000' elevation. The most reliable characteristic separating it from the sympatric and very similar Fowler's Toad, A. fowleri, is the number of warts enclosed within each dark dorsal spot: Typically one or two large warts in A. americanus versus three or more smaller ones in A. fowleri.

Coppery-red color in our specimen reflects American Toad's well-documented variability in dorsal pigmentation, known to shift with age, temperature, hydration, and stress from tan to red to brown. Like its siblings, this individual hatched from a long gelatinous egg string—clutches range roughly 2,000 to 20,000 eggs—laid in a temporary or permanent pool in spring. It metamorphosed from egg to tadpole to toadlet in 50-65 days before dispersing into surrounding woodland and old-field habitat. (We're not sure where this particular toad originated; Hilton Pond North itself is the only nearby standing water and it's ~250 yards away from our cabin over steep up-and-down terrain.) Eastern American Toads forage nocturnally on invertebrates such as insects, millipedes, and worms and often can be found beneath porch lights. Dietary and ecological flexibility across the species' wide range makes it one of the most successful anurans (frogs and toads) in eastern North America.

Early August is an interesting, busy time at Hilton Pond North. Ruby-throated Hummingbird numbers are gradually increasing as young-of-the-year fledge and expand their understanding of which local food sources offer nectar or which tiny insects are easiest to catch. New butterfly species absent in spring appear and nuts and fruits on various trees begin to ripen. Meanwhile, a whole complement of midsummer flora shows its last burst of glory in the garden beside our cabin, overlapping with species that reach their maximum bloom later in the month and into early autumn.

8. Wingstem, Verbesina alternifolia (above), is one of those bright yellow native members of the Sunflower Family (Asteraceae). It hosts larvae of Silvery Checkerspot, Chlosyne nycteis, and Summer Azure, Celastrina neglecta (both butterflies), plus the Gold Moth, Basilodes pepita. Eponymous winged stems and pincushion flower heads with drooping ray flowers make it easy to distinguish from sympatric composites in the same late-summer meadow guild. Aggressive Wingstem "invaded" unplanted areas in our garden area during our first year here and three summers later continues to dominate the local landscape. Its eight-foot-tall stems tower over even our loftiest Goldenrods.

3. Knowing our affection for native red Beebalm, Monarda didyma (above), in late 2024 the girls planted several roots at Hilton Pond North. They did well last year and by now have fully colonized one corner of the garden. As a surprise from Kim and Amy the colony was supplemented by Beebalm's congener—lavender-white Bergamot, M. fistulosa (also native)—that is likewise doing well. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds visited Beebalm all summer, as did various butterflies. The flower in our photo was in its final inflorescence this week; soon the last floral tubes will drop and its dark seed head will ripen, again providing forage for goldfinches and perhaps small sparrows. At least one and possibly three small native bees forage for pollen exclusively on Beebalm, which is also host plant for the larvae of two moths: Hermit Sphinx, Sphinx eremitus, and Raspberry Pyrausta, Pyrausta signatalis.

4. Blue Mistflower, Conoclinium coelestinum (above), occurs natively across the Carolina Coastal Plain and Piedmont but only commonly at low elevations in our mountains. This fluffy-flowered composite is more an edge-of-range visitor at Hilton Pond North (3,000' elevation) than a given; its appearance this year was truly a surprise—not only to us but also to the Garden Gurls who didn't actually remember planting it. (Its roots may have stowed away with other plants they installed last fall.) No obligate insect relationship is documented for Mistflower, although its nectar and pollen draw a wide range of bees, butterflies, and moths—the latter seldom seen since they mainly fly at night.

5. The long, narrow corolla tubes of native Cardinal Flower, Lobelia cardinalis, are a near-obligate match for the Ruby-throated Hummingbird's long, narrow bill and tongue length, making RTHU its primary and most effective pollinator across the deep red flower's eastern range. Although Bumblebees can rob its nectar, given the blossom's structure they rarely achieve such high pollination efficiency. The Gurls planted several Cardinal Flower roots in 2024 at Hilton Pond North and only one took; it barely sprouted last year but this summer put up three flowering stems. Alas, two stems were nipped by browsing White-tailed Deer, but it does look like the little colony is recovering and is now well-established. Purple flowers in the photo are non-native ornamental Mountain Garlic,  Allium lusitanicum, apparently installed by previous owners of the property. Look closely at lower left for another non-native—a brown-bodied Chinese Mantid nymph, Tenodera sinensis, undoubtedly waiting around for some nectar-hungry insect to approach the onion blossoms.

So that's five "native" plants down, five natives to go—but the character of this second half is entirely different. Where Kim and Amy's choices arrived with trowels, tags, and a plan, the next five simply showed up unannounced: Seeds carried on wind or water or dropped by birds, taking root in whatever bare ground Hilton Pond North happened to have available.

6. Come August, two-foot-tall purple-black stems of native White Snakeroot, Ageratina altissima (above), may be the most widely dispersed herbaceous flower at Hilton Pond North, growing across our 30 acres on disturbed ground in partial shade. It's in the garden, beside the driveway, and all along our trails. Yet another composite, its quarter-inch white flowers attract an early August crowd of nectar-seeking bees and butterflies, with several unrelated moths using Snakeroot foliage as food for larvae. The plant is known for producing tremetol, the toxin responsible for historical "milk sickness" in cattle that grazed on White Snakeroot.  Calves were affected, diminishing the herd, and people who drank that milk—or ate meat or butter from affected cows—developed trembling, vomiting, weakness, severe constipation, and sometimes coma or death.

9. Native Daisy Fleabane, Erigeron strigosus (above), supports a guild of generalist small bees and Hover (Flower) Flies (Syrphidae). Blossoms vary from white to pale pink or lavender. Fleabane's long bloom window makes it a reliable early- to late-summer nectar provider. A closely related species, Annual Fleabane, E. annuus, has very similar flowers but bears toothed leaves. These two fleabanes—both of which occur at Hilton Pond North—are often dismissed as weedy. Even so, their tiny seeds are wind-dispersed so they are rapid colonizers of raw ground; erosion control is arguably the fleabanes' most underrated environmental contribution. (NOTE: Fleabane's common name came from the American colonists' unfounded belief that smoke from burning dried plants would drive fleas from a household.)

So there you have it: Ten "native" early August wildflower species. Five were brought in and planted by the Garden Gurls but are thriving even if a couple are a little "out of range." The other five even more robust species were entirely accidental, arriving on their own and dominating our garden at Hilton Pond North. Regardless of these plants' origin, bees, butterflies, and moths that worked their blooms all summer made no distinction, a good reminder the best gardening decision is sometimes just leaving room for volunteers. Whether it was planted thanks to Kim and Amy or nature delivered it, every "native" flower in Summer's Last Bouquet has something to offer—both aesthetically and in the environmental sense. Can't wait to see what pops up NEXT year!

10. We host at least three native species of Goldenrod at Hilton Pond North; most common is Tall Goldenrod, Solidago altissima, shown above with a Small Carpenter Bee, Ceratina sp., on tiny quarter-inch flowers. With more than 100 Solidago species in North America, the genus anchors an unusually large assortment of pollen-specialist bees—several of which forage almost nowhere else. It's quite certain Goldenrod's late-summer bloom provides critical fuel for pre-hibernation pollinators at our elevation, where first frost comes early each fall.

Entomologist Doug Tallamy's research ranks Solidago as the top herbaceous keystone genus in the eastern U.S., hosting larvae of roughly 115 species of butterflies and moths—more than any other perennial wildflower genus and second only to native Oaks (Quercus spp.) among all plants studied. (NOTE: We feel obligated once again to remind folks Goldenrods, below—whose sticky pollen is insect-carried—are NOT the cause of autumn hay fever. That blame falls mainly on a different inconspicuous green composite called Common Ragweed, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, which blooms at the same time. Wind blows Ragweed's dry pollen straight into your eyes and nose, causing misery that is NOT the fault of fall fronds of glorious Goldenrod.)